


All About That Ace

by sentientstars



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Getting Together, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 01:26:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6065566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sentientstars/pseuds/sentientstars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This fic is set in a near future where the Karasuno third years have graduated and left the nest, leading third year Ennoshita to become the captain of the volleyball team, and third year Tanaka to become both the vice captain and the ace. Short & sweet. Nothing special.</p>
<p>                || “C-captain?” Tanaka stared dumbly, not blinking, utterly transfixed by Ennoshita’s earnest praise and his wide, honest eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All About That Ace

**Author's Note:**

> boyyoass how I had die over some ennotana

     Tanaka stumbled backward between the doors leading into the locker room, quickly bustled in by the overwhelming surge of his entire team all trying to get to him at once. Everyone was yelling something or another, between positive exclamations, profanity, and simply vocalizing their excitement in extended sounds rather than words. He himself was oscillating between mindless shouting and roaring with laughter, the euphoria of having won the game thanks to one of his stellar spikes jolting through his body like lightning. Punching his fists into the air and howling as a few of the first years lifted him off the ground, he managed to discern some shouts of “nice kill!” and various incarnations of his name, along with a steadily inclining group-wide chant of “ace!” over the din. He inhaled deeply, his chest swelling with pride as tears pricked the corners of his eyes. He knew he hadn’t done it alone, that his whole team had performed brilliantly, and they had won it by working together and combining all of their strengths-- but the satisfaction of scoring that last point for his team, of overcoming the odds, was intense. He was gently placed back to the ground and everyone pushed forward to get their chance to slap him on the arms and back, to shake him or hug him, to rub his head affectionately, or, if you happened to be one Chikara Ennoshita, to throw yourself headlong into a kiss with the superstar of today’s game.  
  
  
     Tanaka had seem him coming, but only for a moment. Ennoshita had pushed himself almost aggressively forward between their other teammates to make his way to the front, shouting “ace!” along with the rest of them. In that moment, Tanaka could see Ennoshita’s brilliantly smiling face, a smile that he would later realize was meant only for him. In the next moment, Tanaka wasn’t able to register what was happening immediately, but it only took one more moment for him to catch up. His eyes blew open wide, the sensation of Ennoshita’s lips pressed so hard against his that it almost hurt took place in his mind above all of the noise that still clamored around them. Half of the group carried on not even noticing what was happening, but a few voices silenced like the dead when they caught sight of the wonder before them, the scene at hand definitely the first of its kind. Ennoshita pulled back from Tanaka and his expression immediately changed, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips pressed into a worried line. He was only a little embarrassed, seeming to realize what a boundary he’d crossed in the heat of the moment, but in a flash his expression changed again-- he was determined to see his action through. He gripped the front of Tanaka’s jersey and kept him close, saying loudly, but without yelling,  
  
  
     “Tanaka, you were amazing! At first I had wanted to say that I can’t believe that you pulled that off, but I _can_ believe it! This is why you’re our ace! You were just amazing! You were perfect!”  
  
  
     More voices had stopped to listen to their captain speak when they recognized his voice and even more voices died upon what they’d heard. Tanaka could feel the weight of every pair of eyes in the room focused on him and his whole body erupted in goosebumps. He felt slightly clammy, the sweat gathered on his chest and lower back tingling his skin.  
  
  
     “C-captain?” Tanaka stared dumbly, not blinking, utterly transfixed by Ennoshita’s earnest praise and his wide, honest eyes. He hadn’t realized that the word "perfect" even existed in Ennoshita’s vocabulary-- he’d certainly never heard him say it before, and definitely not in relation to him. He felt a deep blush creep up from the back of his neck, spreading across his shoulders, then up through his cheeks and ears all the way to his forehead. His mouth ran dry. Ennoshita had always somehow managed to be an even more brutal and tyrannical captain than even Daichi, but despite that, it wasn’t as if he had never received praise before; the difference was that everything he could remember had been nothing like this, it was never this much, this personal-- that’s what made it so special-- and so absolutely unexpected.  
  
  
     “Thank you for being my vice captain! We are so lucky to have you! Please continue to give us your strength, ace!” Ennoshita released him, but quickly regained proximity by wrapping his arms around Tanaka’s back and squeezing him tightly with his full weight, such that Tanaka felt the wind was partially knocked out of him. The crew around them took this as their cue to descend towards the center for a group hug and the shouting quickly erupted again. The mild surprise of what Ennoshita had done was not enough to scare them out of the intense satisfaction they’d gleaned from winning the game, and they weren’t about to stop praising Tanaka for his contributions, in any case.  
  
  
     Tanaka, still half-dumbstruck, wrapped his arms languidly around Ennoshita’s shoulders and pushed his face into the hollow between his arms and Ennoshita’s neck. Several shouts rang out above them again, many of which had taken on a slightly more specialized message, most notably Nishinoya’s overzealous crow of “ _OW, OW, OWW!!_ GET IT, ACE!”, Hinata’s shrill screech of “Tanaka-senpai!”, and more than one wolf whistle. Tanaka’s face burned pleasantly and the heat from so many already-warm bodies crowding around him was sweltering, making him feel light-headed. He half-heartedly cursed himself, laughing nervously as he felt his body begin to shake from the overwhelming amount of emotional and physical stress he was enduring. He pulled Ennoshita closer. He felt a little stupid for not seeing it sooner, but it was right, wasn’t it? Him succeeding Asahi as the ace, being elected vice captain, serving so proudly under the noble leadership and guidance of Captain Ennoshita, spending half a year fine tuning his skills, sweating, burning, constantly breaking his old self down so he could build himself back up again, better than ever-- it had all lead up to this moment and it all made perfect sense that it would, yet he felt surprised, overwhelmed, and wondered for a moment if maybe he was in a dream. He quickly shook the thought, however, reassuring himself-- the noise was real, the thick, muggy air filling the locker room was real, and Ennoshita’s arms around him was real. Winning the game had been real. Winning the game thanks to _his spike_ had been real. He clutched Ennoshita tightly, now visibly shaking, and quietly half-sobbed into his shoulder, something between a genuine laugh, a nervous laugh, and crying. Tanaka found himself relieved that despite feeling somehow utterly blindsided by it all and unsure of how to take everything in, he did feel like he deserved to be there at the center of his team, wrapped in his captain’s arms, drawing in the satisfaction of winning a game in which he’d been able to showcase his true ability as an ace. He had worked so hard for so long, and so would allow himself to feel all the happiness that moment would allow.

**Author's Note:**

> oh lord I haven't written fic in a billion years, I'm too embarrassed to be alive. why am I like this. hmu on twitter @hqrarepairs if you want to kinkshame me in hell. I'm a sucker for rare pairs.


End file.
